My husband is saving

I too would be interested in seeing how many people stick with it at the end of the year; I know I would probably not be able to - not with the holidays and whatnot.

For me, it's easier to put $25/wk automatically in an ING account. I don't miss it and rarely check the balance (always a nice surprise when I do get around to it!) I also arranged to have $50/every 2 weeks dumped in our savings account from my part-time job's paycheck.

We live pretty tightly, but it's good knowing $200/mo isn't being touched

Well, that's great that you have regular savings accounts. But that doesn't change the fact that this savings method is inherently flawed for even the "extras". You seem to be very excited that your husband will have saved $1326 by the week before Christmas if he sticks with it. How excited will you be when those large deposits come out of your budget from Halloween until then?

I just hate to see someone, who is new to saving, set themselves up for failure. It takes less discipline to set up automatic savings deposits of $26.50 per week than it does to consciously increase your savings by $1 every week. By the time you lose your interest in saving, the automatic savings have taken hold and you aren't missing the money. When you have to increase the amount you set aside each week, you are constantly reminded of how much more you have to give up to meet your goal. At the end of one year, both methods end up with the same balance. But the guy he started out saving $26.50 per week is more likely to stick with it than the guy who has to figure out how he is going to come up with $45-$52 per week in the final months of the year.

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Wow. I usually try not to comment on things like this, but a little harsh aren't we. As the OP stated, they have a savings account for emergencies, vacations and what not. So they are not new to savings and are in no way setting themselves up for failure. OP was merely stating that this a FUN little project to save money to spend at Christmas. Her DH is not putting the money into a savings account. He's putting the money into a jar at home. If he succeeds to save that much money each week, great. If not, no harm. If he does drop out about half way through, then he's still not a failure. He may not have met the full challenge, but he did succeed in saving some money. Saving some money is better than saving no money at all.

I'm sure it would be just as easy to do it the way you stated, but the way he chose to do, he chose so he could have fun with it and see if he can meet the challenge. As the OP stated, if she really needs her DH to save the money, she can just tell him to adjust the savings account and have the extra taken out. She's happy and excited that he took the initiative to do some kind of savings, without telling him to.

Well, that's great that you have regular savings accounts. But that doesn't change the fact that this savings method is inherently flawed for even the "extras". You seem to be very excited that your husband will have saved $1326 by the week before Christmas if he sticks with it. How excited will you be when those large deposits come out of your budget from Halloween until then?

I just hate to see someone, who is new to saving, set themselves up for failure. It takes less discipline to set up automatic savings deposits of $26.50 per week than it does to consciously increase your savings by $1 every week. By the time you lose your interest in saving, the automatic savings have taken hold and you aren't missing the money. When you have to increase the amount you set aside each week, you are constantly reminded of how much more you have to give up to meet your goal. At the end of one year, both methods end up with the same balance. But the guy he started out saving $26.50 per week is more likely to stick with it than the guy who has to figure out how he is going to come up with $45-$52 per week in the final months of the year.

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As stated before, this thing has been all over the internet since the beginning of the year. Since it heavily hit the internet sites and boards that are dedicated toward finance and budgeting, declaring it to be inherently flawed and only participated in by those "new to saving" is kind of ...... I guess beside the point. There are large numbers of people participating in this who aren't new to savings at all and many who will do just fine at the end of the year.

And yes, just like with weight loss challenges, book reading challenges, stop smoking challenges, 10,000 steps a day challenges and everything other kind of challenge, many people will drop out.

The challenge as it was originally stated was just that, a challenge to try and save a little extra. It is a "find a way to tighten your budget a little more, little by little." It starts out easy and gets progressively harder. Many have decided to alter it to suit in their own minds how they want to play the game.

I really think you are reading way too much into this. If it isn't something you'd want to do that is just fine but you seem a little over-invested in declaring it a bad idea for everybody else.

I'm not at all new to saving, but I'm doing this in addition to my other savings, just to see how it all works out. I'm doing the savings in reverse, and once I figure I'm at a sustainable level, say $30, I'll contribute that amount through the end of the year.

Nothing that results in savings is ever a bad idea. Return on savings is just a matter of degree, and some of us are more conservative about that risk.

Well, that's great that you have regular savings accounts. But that doesn't change the fact that this savings method is inherently flawed for even the "extras"...

When you have to increase the amount you set aside each week, you are constantly reminded of how much more you have to give up to meet your goal. At the end of one year, both methods end up with the same balance. But the guy he started out saving $26.50 per week is more likely to stick with it than the guy who has to figure out how he is going to come up with $45-$52 per week in the final months of the year.

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It is only flawed if they decide to drop out. If it works for OP's husband than it won't be flawed. I think the point about being reminded that you have to give up more each week is the purpose of this plan. It is not meant for the person with a detailed budget and disciplined savings. It could be great for someone that does not really budget and/or wants to use it is a way to cut some cost. The plan is saying, find an easy thing the first week that you can cut out and add new things each week. Week one you decide to stop buying a soda from the machine on Monday's and drink free water instead. Week two you add another day. After 5 weeks you are not buying soda and you decide that you will pack your lunch one day a week. Gradually you build up to packing every day. After a few months you need more savings so you decide to cut a premium channel from your cable plan. By the end of the year, the $50 that you are saving each week is habit and sustainable. Next year you save that $50 every week and you have $2600 in annual savings. For some this could be a kickstart that they want.

I've seen this posted a number of times, too. Every time that I see it, I wonder if the people who are so excited about it are just mathematically challenged? Sure, it sounds easy to put $1 or $2 aside each week. Heck, most people can even do $20/week without missing it. It's the later part of the plan that gets difficult. You know...the last 3 months where you end up saving $170, $186, and $202 respectively. How easy is that going to be? Just how much would you have in your savings if you quit after 6 months? The answer is only $351! You have to save nearly $1000 in the last 6 months if you follow this plan!

I think that if you can find room in your budget to save $50+/week, then why not do it from the beginning? At least you would have a good start to your savings when you have the most enthusiasm for doing it. If you only make it to 6 months, you would have $1300 saved.

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the easy answer is that people don't have the self-control to just start saving fifty bucks a week and keep it up. Anybody can save a dollar, however. From there, it's easy to save two dollars. Each successive week, they scrimp a tiny bit more and save a bit more. By the time those last couple weeks of the year roll around, perhaps they've stopped hitting Starbucks on the way to work or are brown bagging it for lunch.

Well, that's great that you have regular savings accounts. But that doesn't change the fact that this savings method is inherently flawed for even the "extras". You seem to be very excited that your husband will have saved $1326 by the week before Christmas if he sticks with it. How excited will you be when those large deposits come out of your budget from Halloween until then?

I just hate to see someone, who is new to saving, set themselves up for failure. It takes less discipline to set up automatic savings deposits of $26.50 per week than it does to consciously increase your savings by $1 every week. By the time you lose your interest in saving, the automatic savings have taken hold and you aren't missing the money. When you have to increase the amount you set aside each week, you are constantly reminded of how much more you have to give up to meet your goal. At the end of one year, both methods end up with the same balance. But the guy he started out saving $26.50 per week is more likely to stick with it than the guy who has to figure out how he is going to come up with $45-$52 per week in the final months of the year.

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I disagree that the person is setting himself for failure. In fact, I feel that you might be missing the point of this savings scheme. You see, in those later months, the saver won't have to figure out how to save $50 from his weekly budget. He'll only have to figure out how to save one extra dollar from his budget. The weekly buyer was already adjusted the week prior to account for the other $49.

Well, that's great that you have regular savings accounts. But that doesn't change the fact that this savings method is inherently flawed for even the "extras". You seem to be very excited that your husband will have saved $1326 by the week before Christmas if he sticks with it. How excited will you be when those large deposits come out of your budget from Halloween until then?

I just hate to see someone, who is new to saving, set themselves up for failure. It takes less discipline to set up automatic savings deposits of $26.50 per week than it does to consciously increase your savings by $1 every week. By the time you lose your interest in saving, the automatic savings have taken hold and you aren't missing the money. When you have to increase the amount you set aside each week, you are constantly reminded of how much more you have to give up to meet your goal. At the end of one year, both methods end up with the same balance. But the guy he started out saving $26.50 per week is more likely to stick with it than the guy who has to figure out how he is going to come up with $45-$52 per week in the final months of the year.

I disagree that the person is setting himself for failure. In fact, I feel that you might be missing the point of this savings scheme. You see, in those later months, the saver won't have to figure out how to save $50 from his weekly budget. He'll only have to figure out how to save one extra dollar from his budget. The weekly buyer was already adjusted the week prior to account for the other $49.

I decided to do this method myself, just for some extra cash on hand. I really don't even know what I will use it for, I just thought it sounded like a good idea. And it's easy.

I have a large, beautiful canister in my kitchen that I have always used as a decorative piece, I never keep anything in it. I've been putting my dollars in there every week. As an added bonus, every few days I empty out any spare change I have hanging around in my purse, wallet, or find while doing laundry and/or cleaning. It will be interesting to see how much that adds up over the next year or so.

I haven't told DH or the kids that I'm doing it, either. They pass the canister everyday not knowing I'm secretly stashing away some fun money for us. I must be bored because this makes it a little more fun for me. It's been a long winter!

OP, I think it's great your DH is saving and that you are both excited about having some spending money for Christmas.

Only on the DIS will you find people poo-pooing your plan for a Christmas fund.

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THANK YOU! I cannot believe how something so positive can engender negativity. I think that anything that can help inspire someone to do something positive for themselves is great.

this challenge was issued by Kassondra Perry-Moreland and over 4,000 people have joined it on Facebook. It is appealing because it lets you start in manageable amounts until it becomes a habit. Maybe everyone CAN'T save the big amounts in Oct/Nov/Dec...but whatever they save is better than no savings at all.

THANK YOU! I cannot believe how something so positive can engender negativity. I think that anything that can help inspire someone to do something positive for themselves is great.

this challenge was issued by Kassondra Perry-Moreland and over 4,000 people have joined it on Facebook. It is appealing because it lets you start in manageable amounts until it becomes a habit. Maybe everyone CAN'T save the big amounts in Oct/Nov/Dec...but whatever they save is better than no savings at all.

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I like this plan because it tends to force a person to budget his/her money and continually tweak the budget to make it better and better.

I just received the latest copy of Chatelaine (a Canadian women's magazine) and on the front cover it said "turn $1 into $1300" and guess what? It's EXACTLY this idea! I agree with pp in that it slowly enables you to tweak your budget and find the money. When you see the money grow, you will start skipping that latte, etc. and put the money into your savings.